On Sun, Jun 11, 2000 at 03:31:48PM +0200, Marcus Brinkmann wrote:
> Debian is about building the best *free* operatign system
Certainly this is an important goal of the Debian project.
Is it really the only goal Debian should be permitted to pursue?
Once upon a time, Debian used to be more inclusive enough to allow
developers to work together in spite of having different goals. We allowed
developers to support software that didn't meet all the properties of
freedom we defined, we allowed people to participate in only the parts of
Debian they wanted to participate in, and we let various groups pursue
their own political agendas so long as they didn't impact the products
we produce itself.
Once upon a time, Debian was inclusive enough that external archives
like Helix weren't really necessary: if you've got the time, skill and
desire to make .deb's of your software, you just send an email, spoke on
the phone for a bit, and started uploading.
I'm not sure I can bring myself to repeat this anymore, everybody
seems to have chosen their side of the debate, and seems to think that
everyone else must agree with them or die, even to the extent of forking
the project.
This is ridiculous.
Why, exactly, _can't_ we all just get along?
Cheers,
aj
--
Anthony Towns <aj@humbug.org.au> <http://azure.humbug.org.au/~aj/>
I don't speak for anyone save myself. GPG encrypted mail preferred.
``We reject: kings, presidents, and voting.
We believe in: rough consensus and working code.''
-- Dave Clark